


Practical Magic (But Make It Stranger Things)

by Doodsxd



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Practical Magic Fusion, Angst with a Happy Ending, Billy Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Have a Good Relationship, Billy Hargrove Is A Good Brother, Brotherly Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Dustin Henderson is a Good Friend, Heavy Petting, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Neil Hargrove's A+ Parenting, POV Steve Harrington, Spells & Enchantments, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-18 07:34:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21990547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doodsxd/pseuds/Doodsxd
Summary: But in those special nights, when the women gather around the fire and the men stay at his father’s office drinking and smoking; then they would weave the tapestry of magic and romance and tragedy, with creatures of myth and loves that transcended times.“You see, my boy,” His grandma was always stitching, knitting, weaving something. He sat on the floor with his head by her knee, staring at the fire, lulled by her movements. “You are a Harrington from your father’s side. But for more than two hundred years, we Owens women were blamed for everything that ever went wrong around us.”“Why?” He asked, even though he had heard that story a hundred times over already.Her hand stopped for a moment, laying on his head. “I think they fear us because we have a gift; a power that has been passed on for generations in our family.”“And what gift is that, grandma?”“The gift of magic, of course.” She chuckled._______________Or: The mix of Stranger Things and Practical Magic that nobody asked for, but I wrote anyway.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 10
Kudos: 225





	Practical Magic (But Make It Stranger Things)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [liquidsky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/liquidsky/gifts).



**PRACTICAL MAGIC (BUT MAKE IT STRANGER THINGS)**

Steve was aware of his Irish heritage from birth. His father, a practical man, always disencourage his grandmother and his mother from saying too much about Irish tales and folklore. 

But in those special nights, when the women gather around the fire and the men stay at his father’s office drinking and smoking;  _ then _ they would weave the tapestry of magic and romance and tragedy, with creatures of myth and loves that transcended times. 

“You see, my boy,” His grandma was always stitching, knitting, weaving something. He sat on the floor with his head by her knee, staring at the fire, lulled by her movements. “You are a Harrington from your father’s side. But for more than two hundred years, we Owens women were blamed for everything that ever went wrong around us.”

“Why?” He asked, even though he had heard that story a hundred times over already. 

“It all began with your ancestor, Maria.” Was always her answer, steady and firm and soft, all at once, like only a grandmother could be. “She was a witch. The first in our family. You, my darling, come from a long and distinguished line.” 

“Is that why they wanted to hang her?” He asked, eyes trained on the dancing flames. “Because she was a witch?”

“The fact that our Aunt Maria was a bit of a heartbreaker didn’t help.” Her hand stopped for a moment, laying on his head. “Kinda like you, my love. But it also didn’t help that most of her lovers had wives on the hanging committee.” She resumed the knitting. “But no. I don’t think it was either of those reasons. I think they feared her because she had a gift; a power that has been passed on for generations in our family.”

“And what gift is that, grandma?” 

“The gift of magic, of course.” She chuckled her deep, velvety chuckle. “It was this very gift that saved her life. She was banished to the North, where nobody knew her. With her strength and gift, she managed to find her true love; someone who kept her happy, rich and safe for the rest of her life, and loved her for just as long.”

His mum was entering the room with a tray of hot chocolate for them. “What are you talking about?” She asked them with a smile, handing Steve his mug. 

She stared at him carefully while he sniffed, trying to identify the smells. It was a game of theirs. “Chocolate, of course, but also cinnamon…” 

“Anything else?” Her eyes were approving upon him, as were his grandmother’s. 

He sniffed it a little bit more. “Anise and… is that cardamom?”

“Oh,” His grandma laughed, clapping her hands. “Good job, my dear!”

His mum also seemed pleased, smiling brightly as they took the first sip in tandem. 

He had been licking his lips when the question first appeared on his mind. “Did aunt Maria do a spell to find her true love?” 

He wondered if he had said something wrong, because his grandma and mom exchanged a look. 

“Yes she did, darling.” His mom stood up and, from underneath a stone from the fireplace, hidden, she took a little book he had never seen before. “It is said that she performed the Amas Veritas spell.”

He climbed the couch to sit beside her and look while she found the right page. “Here it is.” She studied his face. He wouldn’t know why for many, many years, still. “Do you want to make this, dear?”

He was startled by her question. “We… we can?”

“Of course,” Her smile was warm and tender. “If this one caught your attention, then of course we can do it, honey.” 

That’s how they ended up in her balcony, with him plucking the little white petals from the flowers, reciting in his head. 

“It’s important to phrase it as generally as possible, sweetie,” His mom explained. “So, do you know yet if you have a preference for a girl or a boy?”

Up to that point, he didn’t know it was possible for a boy to prefer another boy, but. Well. If his mother said it, then the fairy tales that only had princesses and princes was probably all wrong. 

Steve shook his head.

“Then you will have to use  _ they _ as behind each phrase, OK?” 

_ They will hear my call from miles away. _ A tiny little rosemary flower. 

_ They will whistle my favorite song. _ A daisy petal. 

_ They can play basketball really well _ . A crysanthemum. 

_ They can flip pancakes in the air _ . A gardenia petal. 

_ They’ll be marvelously kind. _ A white african violet flower. 

_ Their favorite shape will be a star _ . An orchid. 

_ Their favorite color is blue.  _ A magnolia petal. 

_ And they’ll have one green eye… and one blue _ . He smiled to himself as he plucked the last few petals from a geranium. 

Then, his mother gave him the wooden bowl and told him to look at the moon and concentrate. 

Her and grandma watched as the petals started to swirl inside the bowl, spiraling up. Steve was a little scared, but with his mom and grandmother behind him, fear could never take over. And, he would think, many years later, he was but a child, and magic is a natural piece of children’s universes. 

As the petals made their way to the moon, Steve thought he heard the trees whispering their consent to what he was doing. And when he looked back, both his grandma and his mom were beaming at him, wiping the corner of their eyes. 

He smiled at them and went back inside to his hot chocolate. It was cold outside anyway.    


_______________________________________________________________________________

After they closed the Upside Down for the first time, Steve felt nothing but exhausted. Barb was dead, his relationship to Nancy was in pieces, his grades weren’t getting any better and his parents were never more absent than now. 

He really thought Nancy was the one. Her eyes were blue, but he thought he saw green speckles at the left one. But she knew nothing of pancakes, or of his favorite songs, and they were bullshit. Everything was bullshit. 

Things were shitty. 

Enter the Hargroves. 

_______________________________________________________

“ _ -thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, forty-one, forty two! _ ” The crowd cheered loudly. “We got ourselves a new Keg King!” He had just came out of the bathroom where he left Nance when he heard it. And the new boy was suddenly guided to stand in front of Steve, a little confused but allowing it. “Eat it, Harrington!” Tommy H. voiced.

The new kid just pulled a cigarette from his jacket’s pocket as Tommy went for a refill of his beer, watching Steve for a couple of beats. “Want a smoke?”

Steve didn’t. But he also didn’t trust himself to drive, not yet. “Sure.” 

He followed the boy outside, accepted the cigarette and the light. He had given up on it while dating Nancy, but it seemed appropriate now. 

They smoked in silence. He felt himself relax, under the nicotine, beside the new Keg King, who didn’t seem to need any words, just stealing glances at him. 

Once his hands had stopped shaking, Steve put the cigarette down and stepped on it. 

“Harrington, right?” The boy asked Steve when he turned to leave. 

Steve turned his body just a little, to actually see him. He looked nice. In an aggressive, overly macho way, perhaps, but he was handsome, for sure. Would make a lot of success with the girls in town. 

“Yeah.” He answered, but didn’t ask back. It wasn’t the right night to meet anyone, and he hoped he wasn’t making the gaudiest of things by just nodding his head and saying “thanks for the cigarette, see you around,” before leaving. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Harrington, right?” The boy smelled of cedarwood, no matter how much he was sweating, Steve noticed. “I heard you used to run this school. That true?” He was looking at Steve’s face instead of the ball. “Then you turned bitch.” 

“Hey, maybe you should just shut up and play the game.” He pointed out in one moment, and, on the other, he was on the floor - and the boy, he didn’t even know his name, but he did the most exciting point he ever saw anyone doing in basketball. 

_ They can play basketball really well _ .

He stood up and ignored the banter and the teasing and everything else in favor of talking to Nancy. She and him deserved a clean breakup, after all. 

______________________________________________________________________________

“Get open!” The coach was yelling behind him. Like  _ that _ helped. “Pass it up now! Get open!”

And then the ball was with who Steve had learned to be Billy Hargrove, the new kid in town. Steve just wished he would ever  _ stop talking _ , even though he was still thankful for that first night. 

“All right! All right, all right! King Steve. King Steve, everyone. I like it.” He was hitting the ball on the court and Steve wanted to fucking punch him. “Playing tough today.” 

“Jesus! Do you ever  _ stop talking _ ? Come on!” Steve urged him, because he didn’t know if he could fit any more negative feelings inside of himself, there was no space left. He was going to explode. 

“What?” Hargrove was smiling, always smiling. “You afraid the coach is gonna bench you now that I’m here? Huh?” 

Then he pulled past Steve like he was a sheet of paper, and scored. 

Once he came back, he offered Steve a hand. Suspicious, but wishing to trust the team’s camaraderie, he took it. 

“You ever moving your feet.” He said, suddenly, and his voice was grave and deep, as if this was important. They were close, so very close that Steve could count the glistening drops over his brows. “Plant them next time, draw a charge.” 

The whistle blew. Billy let go of Steve’s hand, but Steve didn’t immediately move. 

Because that boy right there had  _ one green eye, and one blue.  _

  
  


_________________________________________________________________________

So, alright. Heterochromia isn’t really such a rare thing to have, right? 

“Steve, there isn’t enough data to go on,” Dustin told him that night at the library. “But complete, human heterochromia is really rare. Most people have either the setorial or the central type.” He had been leafing through a few more comprehensible medical journals on eye abnormalities, and Steve would  _ never _ forget the pictures he saw there. “The most common is with people who have brown eyes. Green and blue is almost a magical combination.”

“Don’t say that!” He exclaimed, and the librarian shushed him, but, for once, he didn’t care. “Take that back!”

“Steve, what’s going on?” The boy was frowning at him as if he had grown another head. 

He bit his lower lip, pondering on if he should or shouldn’t say anything. 

“Okay. Okay, you’ll think I’m crazy.” He ran his hands through his carefully constructed hair. That’s how Dustin knew this was serious shit. “But we’ve seen and done stuff and I think there’s a chance you’ll believe me, so…” 

Dustin put his hand over Steve’s, trying to be comforting. “Steve. You can tell me anything.” 

Steve took a deep sigh. “So…” 

And Steve told him. From beginning to end, he told the boy everything. It was probably a horrible thing that he was confiding, trusting, and  _ leaning on _ a boy so much younger than him. It should be the opposite, but after ditching all his friends for Nancy and then, quite honestly, finding them to be a bunch of douches, he had no one else to turn to. 

But Dustin, Dustin  _ listened _ and even took a few notes here and there, just to remember it all. 

“Okay,” The boy was looking at his sheet of paper. “Okay. We’ve seen stranger, I guess.” 

Steve was still half freaking out. “What do you think about all this, Dustin?”

He hummed. “I think we need more information.” 

The older boy rolled his eyes. “Yeah? Well, where are we going to gather information in  _ spells _ and  _ magic _ , huh, Dustin?” 

“ _ Think,  _ Steve. Call your mom and your grandmother. While on that, I’ll be researching on the history of magic. The guys can keep a lookout on Billy for you, see if he fits more of your  _ requests _ .” He rolled his eyes. “Even though I can’t actually comprehend how someone like Hargrove could ever be interpreted as kind.” 

Steve was still a little surprised that the whole fact that it was a  _ guy _ didn’t even register as bad with the boy at all. 

That actually made him slightly suspicious, but he supposed it was a worry for another day. 

He nodded. “Alright. But if you’re following him or something,  _ please be careful _ .” 

Dustin rolled his eyes. “I’ve dealt with  _ monsters _ , Steve. I’m sure I can handle a admittedly very buff teenager.” 

Steve highly doubted, but. At this point, all he could do was have faith. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

They’re in the showers and Billy’s looking at him in a way that feels a little mocking, though he’s not sure. Steve had been resolutely ignoring Billy ever since the heterochromia discovery - if nothing else, to spare his own mind of wondering about it. Not that it was working. 

“Don’t sweat it, Harrington.” He said. Fucking hell, Steve understood exactly what the fuss was all about. He looked positively lascive all the time, oozing sex like a mist that spread with his cologne. It was hard to  _ avoid _ imagining some sort of lewd scene when he looked like that, making all thoughts go astray at once. “Today’s just not your day, man.” 

“Yeah,” Tommy was laughing in front of them. “Not your week. You and the princess break up for one day, she’s already running off with the freak’s brother.” He laughed. 

People didn’t know when or how or why they had broken up, though. It kinda hurt that they painted it worse than it was, that on top of the hurt of the breakup itself made a little pile of stuff Steve just didn’t wanna look at. 

“Oh, shit, you don’t know.” Tommy continued, as if Steve had given him any sign that he gave a damn about a word that came out of his mouth. Billy was still staring at him in that unnerving way, though, which wasn’t much better. “Jonathan and the princess skipped yesterday. Still haven’t shown.” He leaned forward. “But that must be just a coincidence, right?” He laughed, and left, the bastard that he was. 

But Billy, Billy stayed behind. Looking. “Don’t take it too hard, man. A pretty boy like you has got nothing to worry about.” Steve eyed him, a deer caught in the headlights by the compliment. It was small, but enough to make a lot of boys decide to punch another on the mouth, just for kicks.

Billy just widened his smile, tip of his tongue over his canine. “I mean. Plenty of bitches in the sea, am I right? I’ll be sure to leave you some.” 

And even though that was a distinct  _ no homo _ subliminar situation, Steve had to hold on to the shower nozzle to settle. 

He had never felt an urge to ask somebody to call him a  _ pretty boy _ and  _ bitch _ before, but, apparently, that was his life now. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________________________

“Okay,” They were in Steve’s car, Dustin with his little notebook and pencil. “First, did you get anything from your mother or grandmother?”

Steve shook his head. “I’ve been calling, but apparently they’ve been busy.” 

“Okay, I expected that.” Dustin’s remark was true, but it didn’t hurt less for that. “Alright, so. First, I checked out your family tree and, true to their word, your family, from your mother’s side, comes from a woman named Maria Owens, who was tried by the Salem Trials back in 1878.” He shared his notes. “It’s said that she slept around with a few married men, she knew how to cook well, therefore they said she was a witch. She was about to be hung when the cord that was supposed to suffocate her broke, and she fell on her feet. Everybody freaked out and left her alone. That’s when she came to live at the Hudson Valley. Got married, settled down, had a few babies, the whole shebang.”

“Alright.” Steve leaved through the copies the boy made from books and registries. “Okay. So technically one could say my mother and her mother come from a lineage of a possible witch.” 

“You, too.” Dustin was still looking at the papers while he said that. “Eleven said she isn’t an expert on  _ this _ kind of magic, but that she could always sense something around you. So there’s that, too.”

“What?” Steve frowned. “Why the fuck she never told anybody about this?”

“We always thought she was saying you should join the D&D party, sorry, my bad… aha!” He finally found the paper he was looking for. “Also, here. We asked Max why they left California, apparently Billy got  _ impossible _ after… you know. The last time the Upside Down made an appearance around Hawkins.” He made a face. “Right when you got really depressed and unsure of everything. And, according to her, it was  _ him _ who found his dad a job here, and then started to fight and make trouble there. I mean, maybe it’s not conscious, but...”

“What are you implying?” 

“ _ They will hear my call from miles away _ . It was your first request for the spell,” He hit the butt of his pencil on his notebook, thinking. “I think Billy got upset and agitated, and got into trouble, because you were kinda calling for him with your emotional state.”

“That’s… that’s sketchy, Dustin.” Steve shook his head. “This proves nothing.” 

“Maybe,” The boy agreed. “But he  _ can _ play basketball really well, and his Camaro is blue, as are all of his jeans.” He listed. “Not to mention the super-rare heterochromia.” 

“Okay, okay,” Steve shook his head harder. “It’s still not  _ proof _ . We can’t  _ know _ for sure.” 

“Steve, buddy,” Dustin turned to him, looking very serious. “Putting together all of these characteristics that you did, there aren’t many people left. If he fits them all, I’ll vote you  _ at least _ ask him out.”

“You don’t get a vote,  _ buddy _ ,” He rolled his eyes, trying to look annoyed. He was terrified. “Also, hm… doesn’t it bother you that he’s…?”

“A bit of an asshole?” Dustin shrugged. “The heart wants what the heart wants, I guess.”

“No, I mean,” Steve bit his lips. “A  _ guy _ .” 

It took Dustin a bit to understand. “Oh, no, don’t worry about it, Steve. My mom had this conversation with me when I was kinda…” He flushed. “Doesn’t matter. What matters is that I know what homosexuality and bisexuality are and it’s  _ fine _ . I mean, knowing that  _ monsters _ are out there, in shape of little girl abusers, like El’s  _ papa _ , I think me and everybody else should worry about more important things than who other people are kissing, right?” 

He was trying to look busy, but Steve was having none of that. He put his hand over Dustin’s curls, making him look him in the eye, smiling. “You’re amazing, buddy. Thanks.” Steve’s voice was as honest as it got. “Really.”

“It’s alright! Just, you know. Help me see how many of those requirements you made like  _ ten years ago _ , this Billy Hargrove guy fits, and-”

Steve hadn’t noticed until that very moment when Billy passed them whistling, that he had parked his Beamer right beside the fucking Camaro. Because Steve was apparently that stupid. 

The other boy saw him briefly and winked before entering his own car; Steve had stopped breathing. 

“-teve! Steve! Did you  _ hear _ that?” Dustin had apparently been trying to catch his attention for a good thirty seconds there as the blue car drove away. “Did you hear it?”

“Hear what?” Steve hadn’t heard anything but the blood rushing on his ears. 

Dustin rolled his eyes and pushed play on the cassette on his car, the one he never played when he wasn’t alone. It was almost too thin already, but Steve dreaded having to replace it, because…

… the first notes of Steve’s most listened song started to play, and Dustin wasn’t dumb. Neither was Steve, even if he was a little slower than his little investigator friend. 

It took him ten seconds, but Steve’s eyes widened, because in what fucking world would Billy Hargrove be whistling  _ George Michael _ , just, like,  _ casually _ ? 

_ ‘I’m never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm…’ _ The cassette played, and Steve blushed, but Dustin wasn’t precisely judging him. He was just making some more notes. 

“Okay, he whistles your favorite song.” He decided. “For a guy who only seems to listen to Scorpions, Ratt and Ted Nugent, that’s pretty out of the curve.” 

Steve sputtered. “That’s- that’s  _ not _ my favorite song!” Yeah, who was he trying to kid?

Dustin just rolled his eyes. “Okay, buddy, it’s not.” He took something from his packback. “But since I know this one is going bad already, I got you another one.” 

Steve stiffled the urge to laugh, taking the tape. “Thanks, buddy.” 

“Yeah, don’t thank me yet.” He sighed. “I may be on the verge of proving that asshole Billy Hargrove is what the universe came up with in response to your little love spell, dude. Like, this spell  _ shaped him _ into who he is, in a way.” The boy looked torn. “I mean. I guess I can be OK with it if he’s nice to you.”

“He’s not.” Steve shrugged. “Not yet.”

“Yeah…” Dustin was still thinking. “We have more research to do, then. I’ll keep you posted.” 

  
  


_________________________________________________________________________________

It was back, though. Every fucking thing was back, and there was no way around it. 

The Mind Flayer, the demogorgons. 

Steve couldn’t remember ever feeling that helpless before.

  
  


___________________________________________________________________________

“Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?” Sure enough, he showed up at the worst time. At the time Eleven was going to shut down the portal, that Will was trying to sweat off the Mind Flayer’s possession, that there were  _ monsters _ running around like they owned Hawkins. 

The time when only, like, a couple of adults and a bunch of teenagers knew and were doing something about it all. 

Fucking hell. 

“Yeah, it’s me. Don’t cream your pants.” Niiice deflection, Steve. Real smooth. 

“What are you doing here, amigo?” Sure Billy knows spanish. Just perfect. Could he be  _ more _ perfect? Was it even possible? In that moment, though, that fact only annoyed him. He had to focus on other stuff, not on his possible-don’t-be-stupid-Steve-of-course-it-is-a-crush on Billy Hargrove. 

“I could ask you the same thing.” Steve needed him  _ gone _ . He needed him away, away from this mess, from the monsters. At least until everything calmed down. “Amigo.” He added lamely. 

Billy didn’t seem to be on the script, though. “Looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she was here.”

“Huh, that’s weird.” He thought about the little redheaded girl inside the house, and how she, too, shouldn’t be into this mess. Too late now. “I don’t know her.”

“Small? Redhead?” Billy cocked his hips. “Bit of a bitch.”

“Doesn’t ring a bell.” Steve insisted. “Sorry, buddy.” 

“Steve!” Dustin came running from inside the house, looking like his pants were on fire or something. 

“Buddy, go back inside.” Steve told him, still sort of afraid. He didn’t think Billy would hit a child, but he has seen the boy throwing punches and it wasn’t pretty. It was too dangerous for him out there. “I’ll be there with you in a minute.”

“No, Steve! Look!” He was already  _ touching _ Billy, and it was so quick that the other boy had no reaction, just frowning and mumbling a weak  _ what the-?  _

Dustin made Billy turn around with surprising strength for such a small boy - of course, surprise attack being his advantage at the situation - and got him to lower his neck to where Dustin’s hands could reach. The boy lifted Billy’s hair from the nape of his neck, showing a tattoo.

_ A blue star _ . 

“What the fuck, Henderson?” Billy turned back quickly, hand over his tattoo protectively. Was that a blush?

“Dustin, you can’t-”

“Steve! Give me a minute,” Dustin insisted, and turned to Billy. “Why do you have a star tattoo?” 

“I don’t think that’s any of your business, Henderson.” He looked off-balance, and honestly, if it was Steve in Billy’s position, he would feel the same. Dustin had this effect on people. 

“Cut the bullshit, Hargrove!” Steve hadn’t registered it until that moment, but his nailed bat was by the boy’s feet, and he wasn’t afraid of threatening, apparently, holding it firmly. “Why is that tattoo a star? No lies! I’ll know if you lie!”

“Alright, Jesus!” Billy raised his hands in surrender to avoid the deadly - or at least very painful - bat. “I don’t know, I like the shape. My mom got the same one on the same day, I thought it was cool.” He looked a little nervous. “Chill, man. It’s just a tat. It’s not like it’s the satanic symbol or somethin’.” 

“Dustin, buddy-” Steve started, but was interrupted again. 

“No, Steve.” He turned to Billy again, frantic. “Would you stay it’s your favorite shape?”

Billy just rolled his eyes. “Kid, I just told you it’s a tattoo I got with my mom, right before she passed.  _ Of course _ I’d say it’s my favorite shape.” He crossed his arms over his chest, as if the information was too revealing and he had to protect himself somehow. 

_ Damn _ . Poor Billy. Losing his mom so young couldn’t be easy. 

“Alright.” Dustin handed Steve the bat and grabbed Billy’s hand, leaving him, once more, without any reaction but to follow the boy’s lead. “That’s enough for me.”

He guided Billy inside the house, and Billy looked at Steve quizzically as if asking a question, but Steve shrugged because he had no answer. 

Steve followed, and when he got inside, the whole bunch were protesting as Dustin stopped in front of the refrigerator --  _ the _ refrigerator. 

_ Fuck. _

“Dustin, you can’t do this!” Steve tried to stop him, but when Dustin put something in his head…

“Dude!” He threw his arms up. “If he’s not who I think he is, we’ll deny and pretend that none of this ever happened, and if he tells anybody nobody will believe him. They’ll put him on an asylum or something, and that’ll be it.” 

“Okay, what the fuck is going on?” Billy demanded from behind the boy, who made him shut up with a gesture. 

“And if he  _ is _ who I think he is,” He continued, looking at Steve pleadingly. “Then he has to  _ know _ . He belongs into this mess. With you.” 

“Dustin, are you  _ insane? _ ” Lucas was looking at his friend as if he had grown another head. 

Billy’s eyes were narrowed in suspicion, but he refrained from speaking for now. Maybe he was assessing the situation; Steve would never know. 

And then, without anybody close enough to stop him in time, Dustin opened the freezer, revealing the demogorgon they killed inside, still wrapped up in Joyce’s blanket. 

Nobody made a sound. 

Billy took a step forward, reached out and moved the blanket. Touched the demogorgon -  _ with his bare hand _ , the stupid fucker -, as if to guarantee that this wasn’t a practical joke they were playing on him. 

He seemed to have made a decision then, because he put the blanket back and shut the freezer, looking from one face to the other of all the people present. Then his eyes laid on Steve’s, and he felt sorry to drag the other boy into this mess, but, well. Too late now. 

He reached for a cigarette; Steve didn’t say anything. Joyce would understand. 

Once it was lit and he had a couple drags on him, hand shaking a bit, Billy licked his lips, looking around. “Alright. I need some sugar to go through this, so here what’s gonna happen: I’m gonna make something to eat, and while I do it, you’re going to tell me  _ exactly _ what the  _ fuck _ is wrong with this town.” He scanned the kids’ faces. “Capisce?” 

They all nodded in tandem. 

It was a little surreal. Billy started puttering around the Byers’ kitchen, collecting ingredients here and there. It kinda made sense for food to be his guilty-pleasure-slash-comfort-resource, with a body like that. He probably refrained a lot, right until his breaking point. 

The kids just watched for a few moments, and then Lucas, very timidly, started explaining. Dustin corrected him vividly, Mike yelled at them both for telling it wrong, and Max was apparently also hearing the whole thing for the first time, so she just listened, right to the point when she could also give input. 

Billy listened quietly as he mixed and matched and measured things on the counter. Then he put a frying pan over the stove and Dustin  _ vibrated _ , looking ready to jump off of his skin. 

Lucas, Max and Mike kept on telling the story, though.

Billy poured the pancake mix on the frying pan. 

Dustin was looking. Steve was… sort of looking. 

The story ended while it was still heating up and sizzling a little. That was when Billy spoke again. “So, this girl, Eleven… she can do… I guess I should call it magic, since nobody knows what that is?” 

Max suddenly looked excited and smug, which was weird. 

Mike nodded. “Yes. I mean, I know science is going to explain what she does in a few years but… for now, we call it magic. Or powers.” 

Billy nodded. “Well, okay. I’m no magician, but check his out.” He held onto the handle of the frying pan. 

Max’s smile grew. “He hasn’t done this in a while, but it’s always so cool.” She told the boys. “Only when my mom travels, and she  _ never _ travels.” She rolled her eyes. “Her cooking is awful.” 

Billy’s smile, though, was all Steve could see for the moment. It was sincere, bright. No wonder his heart kept skipping beats. He was gonna have a stroke right there, and Dustin was gonna  _ kill _ him. 

“Alright, here it goes,” He threw the pancake in the air, high,  _ high _ , almost to the ceiling of the house, and it came back  _ weird _ ,  _ different _ , like-

“Oh my  _ God _ .” The three boys looked impressed as Lucas asked. 

“How do you  _ do  _ that?” Mike demanded. 

And, well, fair enough, because the pancake was suddenly shaped like a  _ cactus _ . Just from being flipped in the air. 

Billy shrugged. “I don’t know. Started doing it when I was seven, with my mom. Been able to ever since.”

“You never talk about your mom.” Maxine remarked. 

Billy shrugged. “There’s no point. Just makes Neil angry.” 

Her face paled. “Oh my God! They are probably home already!” Her fear was out of place for a girl who had  _ just _ fought monsters. “Oh my God, Billy, what are you going to  _ do _ ?” 

“What?” Steve finally talked, sniffing something in the air by the way she was acting. Dustin seemed to, too. “You two gonna get grounded?” 

“I  _ wish _ -” Max started, but Billy shut her up with a shake of his head. 

“We’re gonna eat, all of us. You’ll all do the dishes afterwards, and I’ll leave a couple of bills to pay for the stuff I used, since I don’t even know the house owner.” Billy listed, flipping pancakes like nobody’s business. “And then we’ll leave, and I’ll deal with it.” 

“But Billy, Neil’s going to-” 

“We have bigger problems than Neil right now.” He interrupted her again. “Like that  _ thing _ inside the freezer.” The stack of pancakes was growing. “I don’t think my father makes top 10 of this town’s problems tonight.” 

Max still looked worried, afraid; but she shut up. 

Mike, the one more comfortable around Will’s house, got them plates and syrup and jam, and they sat to nibble on Billy’s  _ amazing _ pancakes. Steve stayed by the couch, choosing to keep his distance a little, or he’d end up blurting more than anyone could digest for a single night. 

Then Joyce was home with Nancy, Jonathan and Will, and the woman didn’t even  _ know  _ Billy but she thanked him a bunch for feeding the children and grabbed a plate for herself and another for Will. 

They were all eating around Joyce’s ratty table when Hopper and Eleven came in and also grabbed pancakes. Honestly, with so many stranger things happening at that town, a stranger making them delicious pancakes after such a weird and dangerous and nerve-rattling day didn’t even  _ register _ with them at that point. 

But then, of course, another bomb happened, because as soon as El’s eyes landed on Billy, she opened a big smile and plopped right beside him, announcing loudly:

“Oh, so  _ you’re _ the magic boy.” Everybody stopped talking, but she just served herself of more pancakes. Hopper looked at Joyce, who seemed just as much at loss as him; Steve tried to shrink against the upholstery. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Billy looked struck, again. “Uh… you have?” 

“Yes.” She poured an ungodly amount of syrup over her food. 

“You mean he  _ has _ magic?” Mike asked her, looking half jealous, half worried. “Like you?”

She shook her head. “No. Like Steve.” 

Every eye in the room, except for hers, turned to him. Steve just shut his eyes. He was shit at lying anyway, there was no trying, especially having been cornered like that, without preparation. 

“Steve has magic?” Hopper asked in that soft, I-don’t-wanna-upset-you-but-this-is-important tone. 

Eleven, ever the clueless little girl, just nodded. “Yes. And he gave it to Billy.” 

“Harrington,” Hopper stood up, looking just about  _ done _ with all the weirdness in his life. Steve could understand the feeling. “ _ Explain _ .” 

Steve sighed. “You wouldn’t believe me if I did.” 

But El was already touching Hopper’s forearm, making him immediately soften. “Don’t worry. It’s good magic. Not like me or the Mind Flayer.” 

He looked immediately relieved. “Then I guess there’s no rush.” He said and sat back down, but curious eyes were still perusing Steve, as if he would suddenly grow a tail or something. 

So yeah. 

He was going to have to skip town just to escape the embarrassment of spelling it out to Jim Hopper and Billy Hargrove that his magic was a  _ love spell _ that he did when he was  _ eight _ and that Billy magically fit every weirdness he had asked for in a partner back then. 

Honestly, he’d rather die. 

________________________________________________________________________________

He wasn’t proud to say he ran away. 

Desperate times and all. 

  
  


________________________________________________________________________________

So, of course, the red roses grew overnight and took his whole front porch. 

  
  


____________________________________________________________________________

Steve had been trying to cut out the flowers before a neighbor noticed that they grew overnight, so concentrated he didn’t even notice the car stopping by his driveway. 

“It’s early for roses, isn’t it?” Billy’s voice startled him into letting the shears fall to the floor. 

“Fuck!” Steve took a breath, truly annoyed. No. Truly  _ terrified _ . Fucking hell, fucking hell, fucking hell. “Can I help you with something?” 

“I was kinda hoping to talk to you.” He got a cigarette out. “Can we go inside?”

Steve nodded, letting the shears and the gardening gloves by the roses as he guided Billy in. 

Steve served himself of a big, tall glass of water, swallowing it all down quickly as if to swallow his nerves with it. Obviously, it didn’t work. So he tried again, trying to swallow the truth so he could spew lies around. And  _ still _ , he didn’t feel like he could say anything but the truth to that boy. 

“Harrington?” Billy was looking at him hesitantly. “I can come back, you know, if this is a bad time-”

“No, just,” Steve shut his eyes, took a deep breath. “Be mindful of what you ask of me, because I don’t think I can lie to you. And some truths… you gotta ask only if you can handle the answer.” 

Billy sounded surprised by his announcement, but he nodded anyway. His attention, though, got stuck on the herbs Steve got drying by a small rack on the counter. 

“Just herbs. From the gardens.” Steve said. 

Billy took a few steps around, watching the herbs. “After you left, Eleven kept trying to explain to Hopper what was the  _ good magic _ . So I did a little digging.” 

“Hm.” Steve just watched as the other boy went through his kitchen. Steve had gathered much knowledge on plants between his grandma, his mother and books. It was the one thing he enjoyed. To his dad, it was a shame, especially because there was no degree for such a thing. “I guess you found me out, then.”

Billy hummed too, a hand on one vial. “Belladona.”

“A sedative.” Steve explained. “People put it in their tea to relax, calm their nerves.”

“Some people also use it as a poison.” He chuckled, but went ahead. “I’ve read about cooking placenta bars and devil worship-”

“No, there’s no devil in the craft.” Steve continued, crossing his arms over his chest. “I just… I like to do stuff. Manufacture bath oils, soaps, hand lotions, shampoo. Then I use them, or gift them to somebody, and no one has to know.” He took a step forward, towards Billy. “And my mom and grandma… they like to meddle in people’s love lives. You see, what people refer to as  _ magic _ isn’t just spells and potions.” He touched the nape of Billy’s neck, making him go rigid. “Your tattoo? It’s just a star. Just another symbol. BUt, to you, it’s your talisman. It means your mother is here with you.” He shrugged. “It has power because you believe it does.”

“I know you’re in that…  _ upside down _ trouble.” Billy said, sounding a little breathless. “Alright? And if you’re able, and willing, to tell me what you know, besides what the kids said last night… I promise you I will do everything I can to help.” He turned to Steve, and suddenly they were  _ real _ close. Too close. “To keep you all from harm’s way. I am…  _ resilient _ , and physically strong. I know you are, too, but I can-” 

Steve interrupted him with a kiss; it only took a spark to light up that fire. 

It felt like the sun had just exploded on Steve’s belly. 

Billy honest to God  _ groaned _ into the kiss, hungry hands and lips coming for Steve’s mouth, for his hair, his neck, his waist and the bare skin of his back as soon as those fingers found the hem of Steve’s shirt. And Steve? Steve couldn’t mind  _ less _ that he was being pressed to his own counter, that Billy lifted him like he weighed nothing, placing him  _ on _ the counter and himself between Steve’s legs; he cared  _ so little _ that his legs, with a mind of their own, pulled Billy  _ closer _ against himself, pressing their erections together, eliciting a mutual groan. 

But then Steve remembered. He remembered that it was all  _ magic _ , a stupid spell. None of it was real, Billy didn’t like him, wouldn’t have looked at Steve  _ twice _ if it wasn’t for some flower petals flowing to the moon. He would never even have come to Hawkins if it wasn’t for it. 

So Steve pushed Billy a little, breaking the kiss. His pupils were  _ huge _ against the green-and-blue irises,  _ fuck _ , his mouth rubbed pink by the kiss, and there was nothing more Steve wanted to do than to bite that tendon standing on his neck. “I can’t, I’m sorry, I can’t-”

But, for some reason, Billy didn’t just look disappointed of regretful, he also looked  _ afraid. _ “Yeah. Yeah, I can’t, either,” He didn’t seem to be able to take his fingers from where they were digging into Steve’s hips, though. “I- I gotta go.” 

Steve didn’t move when Billy detangled himself from Steve; he didn’t move, except for his head, following the other boy, while he walked away. But he felt like he had been torn in half, somehow; like he had been standing wrong in the world his whole life. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________________________

By Monday morning, Steve saw Billy leaning on his Camaro, bruises on his eye, jaw and neck; split lip and split eyebrow. He looked… like a tower which stood through a fire, and was still standing, but bearing the marks in a way that couldn’t be hidden right away. 

He offered Steve a little nod when they made eye contact, and, Steve noticed, Max didn’t leave his side the whole day. 

  
  


_________________________________________________________________________________

The girl had been crying; that much was obvious. What was alarming was that he had never seen Maxine cry. It was terrifying. 

“What happened?” Steve was kicked into action by the scene, Dustin sitting beside her, a hand on her shoulder, Will by her other side, Mike and Lucas across from her. At least she had support. 

“It’s Billy.” She sniffled. “He-” Tears spilled from her eyes so easily. Steve felt dread at the bottom of his stomach. “He fell asleep during a class and didn’t wake up. They took him to the hospital.” 

Steve stopped breathing. “How?  _ Why _ ?” 

She looked at Dustin, who nodded. “It’s true, Max. What I said about Steve, it’s true. You gotta trust me.”

She pondered. Nodded. “Neil beats him.” 

“What?” Steve felt that like a punch to the gut. “All that… all that was his  _ dad’s doing? _ ” 

Max nodded, still teary. “Yeah. That day at the Byers’, I disobeyed him and ran away. That’s why Billy was there to get me. And since he didn’t come back soon enough, on Sunday afternoon Neil just-” Her lower lip trembled. “The touch is still stained with blood, but the bastard pretends nothing happens. He was going to beat  _ me _ for running away, but then Billy threatened him and-” 

_ “They’ll be marvelously kind.” _ Dustin recited, looking at Steve. “He’s the one, Steve.” 

“He’s the one  _ what _ ?” Mike asked, frustrated. “What’s going on? You never told us what magic Steve has, you only talked to Max about it.” 

Steve didn’t have the time. He grabbed his car keys, deciding to skip class. “You can tell them, Dustin.”

“Where are you going?” Will asked him while he walked away. Because Steve hadn’t asked for an address or directions. This time, he didn’t need to. He could have driven to Billy blindfolded if it was fucking necessary. 

He barely remembered how he got there. Nobody stopped him at the reception, the elevator, the room’s door. 

He entered, and the sight was both comforting and heartbreaking. 

Billy was there, laying down, oxigen on his face, hooked up to more than only one machine. 

The doctor turned to Steve, looking a little surprised. “Oh. Are you family?” She asked him. 

Steve shook his head. He couldn’t lie. “No, just… what-...?” 

She sighed. “Don’t tell anybody I told you this, okay? I can see how worried you are for your friend, so.” She pulled Billy’s chart. “He has very mild brain swelling cause by blunt-force trauma, which made him pass out in class. He will be OK, though, we just have to keep him to make sure his vitals are normal.” Her smile was an attempt to be comforting. 

Steve wasn’t comforted at all. “Is he under, I don’t know, induced coma, or…?”

“Oh no, honey, he’s just asleep. Probably really tired.” Was her answer. “But he may wake up at any moment now, so keep quiet, OK? He needs rest.”

Steve nodded, and she seemed satisfied by that, because she left. 

He very silently pulled a chair over, but even soundless, the moment he sat Billy was opening his eyes, focusing them on Steve. 

His smile was hearmelting. Heartbreaking. Steve could feel nothing but guilt. “Hey, pretty boy.”

Steve’s eyes were on him, and then on the floor. He hadn’t noticed he was crying until he saw the wet spots from falling tears on his jeans. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry-”

“Hey, hey,” Billy sounded a little groggy. “Hey, pretty boy, what’s going on?” 

“It’s-” A sob racked through Steve. “I did, I’ll tell you all you need to know, I just, I’ll tell you how I-”

“Hey, hold on just a goddamn second, alright?” He sat up with difficulty, looking a little more awake. “One step at a time.” Billy looked around. “Baby boy, can you get me my jacket?” 

Steve nodded, looking around and finding it folded down to a table in the corner. 

Billy got it and opened a tiny little pocket stitched on the inside, hidden. He took a piece of paper from there. 

“You know, usually I don’t care. I’ve been brought from the city I loved to this shithole with monsters and miles away from the ocean, which is really not my scene. But I just-” He opened the paper and gave it to Steve. 

It was a letter he had written to his grandmother right after the night of the spell. He didn’t even remember it until he saw it. He talked about how mommy and daddy were fighting a lot, and if there was a love spell for that, and what if the person the spell brought to him would treat him just like daddy treated mommy. He was so young, and had so many questions, pouring his heart out on a piece of paper that apparently never made its destination. 

“Post office got it wrong, but I never told anybody to get it sent back.” Billy revealed. “Because my parents fought, too. And the idea of spells, of something that could magically  _ fix _ things… I wanted it too. I wanted so bad to believe.” His sigh was disheartening. “But then my… my father killed my mom. Beat her head with a phone.”

“I’m… Billy I’m so sorry.” Steve didn’t know what to say. 

“It was a long time ago, it’s just-” He sighed again. “I must have read that letter a thousand times. It was your letter that made me feel all these years, this  _ urge _ to come here, to meet the boy who wrote it. It was your letter that brought me here. It was you. And I’m all mixed-up about that.”

“The reason you’re here and you don’t know why…” Steve wiped more tears from his eyes. “Is because I sent for you. When I was a little boy I worked a spell so I would find love. I asked for qualities in a person that shouldn’t possibly exist. One green eye, one...” 

“...blue?” Billy completed, looking astonished. 

“But you do.” Steve confirmed, feeling bitter. 

“So,” He looked confused. “You’re saying what I’m feeling is just one of your spells?” 

“Yeah.” Steve agreed, chest blowing all of his oxygen out. “It’s not real. If you stay, if we… neither of us would know if it was because of the spell.” 

Billy fiddled with his covers for a few moments, thinking. “You know, all relationships have problems.” 

“I’m right, aren’t I?” Steve challenged, wanting him to say it. Wanting it to be clean, for him to say it. He had no reason to like Steve, to want him. It was all bullshit.  _ He  _ was bullshit. Nancy was right. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Why don’t you do what you do…” Billy started, grasping at straws. “And I do what I do… and we’ll see where we end up?” He leaned to hold Steve’s forearm. “Curses only have power when you believe them. And I don’t.” 

Steve huffed and stood up. Billy didn’t understand now, but he would. 

He was by the door when Billy’s voice stopped him again. 

“And you know what?” His voice wasn’t loud, but it sounded like a supernova would. “I wished for you, too.” 

Steve inhaled sharply, the only clue he gave that he had heard Billy at all. 

Then, without turning back, he left. 

  
  


_____________________________________________________________________________

From then on, Steve kept his distance. 

It was better this way. 

  
  


______________________________________________________________________

“You are being stupid.” Dustin was honest to God  _ angry _ with Steve, and he didn’t know what to do. “You are not stupid, to be acting like this.” 

“Leave me alone, Dustin.” Steve turned around on his bed, trying to ignore the boy, his life, and his fucked up destiny. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Summer came and, with it, Steve forced himself to get out of bed. Billy kept his distance, respectful of Steve’s wishes, but his longing stares always made Steve’s hear jump and twirl inside his ribcage. 

They were there every day at the public pool. Billy was a lifeguard, as one of the only people in town who could actually swim, and Steve had to take the brats anyway, right before his shift at Scoops Ahoy. 

And Billy; Billy was torture. He was heaven and sin wrapped in red swim trunks and golden aviator glasses that made him look like a Hollywood star. He was all Steve wanted in more ways than one. But without being certain that it was genuine, and not some damn spell, Steve would never feel like he deserved anything as golden as him.

After all, he was bullshit. And the world had a fucked up way of showing that. 

____________________________________________________________________________

And then, one night, Steve simply couldn’t sleep. He knew something was wrong, he knew it in his very bones. But he had no idea what to do,  _ if _ he could do anything at all. 

The world had shifted, though, and he wasn’t the only one to feel it. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Looking inside the sauna at the Hawkins Community Pool, Steve wished he hadn’t taken that long to check on Billy. He wished, actually, that he had never even left his side. Not even for a moment. 

_ “It’s not my fault, it’s not my fault, it’s not my fault, Max…. I promise you, it’s not my fault.”  _ He was saying over and over, out of it. 

“What’s not your fault, Billy?” Max tried, her worry evident in every fiber of her being. 

_ “I’ve done bad things, Max. Really bad things _ ,” Billy cried, half-coherent. “ _ I didn’t mean to. He made me do it _ .” 

“Who made you do it?” She demanded, and Steve watched, feeling like the world was ending. That was Billy, right there. Crying his regret over something which was no fault of his. 

“I don’t  _ know _ ,” His hands were on the walls, on his own arms, every vein standing up in a purplish colour of the most unnatural shade. “I don’t know, it’s like a shadow. Like a giant shadow.  _ Please, Max _ .” 

“What did he make you do?” Her eyes were pouring tears at that point. 

“ _ It’s not my fault, okay? Max, please. Please, believe me, Max, it’s not my fault. I tried to stop him, okay? I did. _ ” He sniffled loudly, hiccuping.  _ “PLease believe me, Max, PLease believe me.”  _

“Billy,” She was trying to make her voice sound stronger, but it was clearly tough. Steve himself had none of it left. “It’s gonna be okay.” 

“Max, please-”

“It’s gonna be okay. We want to help you.” She put her hand on the glass. “We want to help you. You just have to talk to us, okay? You have to talk to us.” Her voice broke. “I believe you, Billy. We’ll figure it out together, okay?” 

“How long has he been like this?” He asked the kids. Dustin had called him by radio, said there was something wrong with Billy. He didn’t even give Steve  _ directions _ , it was like that boy’s will to test him and the power of his spell had no limits. 

He was never surprised when Steve just popped at the right places, though, so. Points to him. 

“About half an hour. El has been holding him back, but it seems he’s trying, too.” Max’s lower lip trembled, and she was crying. Damn, she was crying, and when he was out of that pickle, Billy was going to  _ kill _ somebody for that. 

“I feel him,” WIll announced, sounding downright  _ terrified _ . “He’s activated.” 

“Max, get away from the door.” Mike instructed her, way too calmly for the whole situation unfolding in front of them. 

“What?” She frowned, confused. 

“GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR!” But the glass broke, but before anyone could do anything else about Billy trying to claw his way out of that room through steam and broken glass, Lucas used his sling on him, right in the middle of his forehead, and Billy fell down, out cold. 

“Oh, dear.” Steve straightened his spine, because he  _ knew _ that fucking voice. 

“Grandma?” He turned, terrified. “You cannot be here, what the hell-?” 

“It seems we’ve not arrived in the nick of time.” His  _ mom _ was with her, taking off her scarf like she meant business. 

“I see our instincts are getting a little rusty.” Grandma said, a small smile on her lips. “We are withering while that boy is blooming, dear.” 

Steve’s mom was nodding absentmindedly as she looked through the sauna’s glass. “He’s squatting inside that boy like a toad.” She said,  _ seeing _ things. Even Eleven seemed surprised, especially when his mom pulled her hand through the girl’s hair gently, very mother-like. 

“This is what comes from  _ dabbling _ with what you don’t understand.” Her voice was sharp, but soft, as she chastised Steve for something he didn’t even know he did. Sinclair was holding onto Steve’s grandma’s coat, and both women were pulling up their sleeves. 

Grandma took a bottle of mugwort water from her purse and they washed their hands on it. Then she urged Steve on, and he was so fucking  _ nervous _ , they  _ couldn’t be here _ , there were  _ monsters _ out, but he took off his denim jacket anyway, complying. 

“You two are insane.” He was thankful, though. They knew better what they were doing than him. 

“You can’t practice witchcraft while you look down your nose at it.” His Grandma looked at him pointedly. “ _ Or _ try to change a course set by destiny itself, dear. That first spell you did didn’t set anything in course that wasn’t already written, I hope you know that. Fighting it was foolish, darling.” 

“Oh my God, some privacy, please?” He felt mortified, because they obviously had been  _ watching _ from wherever they were. “I know, I know. Just tell me what to do.” 

His mother just chuckled, and the trio faced each other while the kids watched. “We must banish that thing inside of him.” She explained. “Jane can help force his spirit back to the grave, but we need a full coven.” 

“Nine people?” Steve rubbed his forehead. 

“Twelve’s better.” Grandma added. 

“Your friends can help.” She motioned for them to form a circle, which the clueless children immediately did. 

“Mom-” 

“We’re missing one, though.” She pointed out. “Do you have any friends?” 

“Robin,” He blurted it out before he could help himself. “She had a free afternoon and told me she was coming,, she’s gotta still be here.” 

“Then go, honey, go. We’ll help Jane keep him inside.” His mom urged him.

Steve  _ ran.  _ He ran like he never ran before, and found Robin while she was just trying to leave, a towel wrapped around her swimsuit. 

“Whoa-” She stopped him with a small frown. “Is there a scorpion inside your pants or what, dickhead?”

“Robin, Robin, there’s no time,” He tried to breathe just enough to speak. “You gotta come with me, I need your help.” 

Her frown deepened. “My help? With what?” 

Steve almost laughed. “You’re never gonna believe me.”

______________________________________________________________________________

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, let’s begin.” His mom commanded the room easily, as always. 

They all entered the sauna slowly, one by one. Inside, the Mind Flayer was weaker, which was confirmed by not only Steve’s kin but also by El and Will, so it was safer. El had put Billy to sleep a few minutes before they opened the door, though. Steve wasn’t taking any risks. 

“All right, hold hands and form a circle around him.” 

Robin, the only one who had never been into that freakshow in the first place, had the wildest eyes, but she wasn’t running away. Maybe because she was half-amazed, half terrified of his mom, he just wasn’t sure. 

“Remember, as we go forth, that it is only with our hearts beating as one that we can save the life of this child.” Grandma said gravely. 

They proceeded to start whispering the enchantment, being mimicked by the kids, and later by Robin. Steve knew it by heart, but he wasn’t sure how, as his lips moved on their own accord, following them. 

He was so concentrated he didn’t see it; it was Max. 

“Stop it! Stop it! We’re killing him!” And, in fact, Billy had been writhing on the floor like he was having a seizure or something. 

He stood up, though, and turned right to Grandma, clearly possessed,  _ “Fight this, you bitch-” _ But, as he advanced, he hit the magic wall between them, containing him inside, and fell to the floor as the kids screamed. 

“Billy, Billy, honey, stay with me,” Steve was down on the floor with Max in a moment, but the circle kept shut, as it should. 

He slowly opened his blue eyes, looking exhausted. Defeated. “Please,” He asked. “Please, just let him take me.” 

Steve felt his guts boiling in fear. No. This was  _ not _ happening. “No, you have to hold on. Billy, you have to stay with me. Billy, no, stay with me.” But his eyes were in and out, in and out with the rhythm of his breath. “Billy, stay with me.” 

“He wants… me.” His voice came choked after all the screaming. “Just me.”

“No-” Max was sobbing beside him.

“Everyone will be safe.” He promised, tired. “Just let him take me.” 

“Don’t you die on me, Billy Hargrove, please.” Steve was as close as he could get from the other boy, fat tears spilling from his eyes. He couldn’t bring himself to care. “Because we’re supposed to die together, remember? I wrote that on the letter you got.” He sniffled, wiped his face quickly, trying to look encouraged instead of desperate. “The same time. It’s what’s gotta happen. And this is  _ not _ the day.” 

“I love you, Steve.” His voice was so small. A sob broke from Steve’s chest. 

And then Grandma snapped her fingers. “Okay, wait. I’ve got it.” She motioned at everyone in the circle. “Everybody but the sister go back in the circle.” And she hurried outside for something. 

Grandma came back about five minutes later with a bucket of ice on her hands, and handed it to Max. “Hey, Billy.” She got some ice on her hand, watching it melt. Billy stirred from his place on the floor. “I got a bucket of ice with your name on it. You thirsty?” She gauged him on. 

He sniffed the air, crawled back on his fours, watching her. Studying her, dangerously; a predator ready to pounce. 

“Well this…” She pushed her way between Steve and his mom, conveying with a look that they should break the circle and tackle him. “You can’t have.”

It all happened really fast. 

Steve and his mom broke the circle and helped hold Billy down as grandma slashed both Billy’s and Max’s palms and placed them together, wounds touching, inside the circle. 

“I love you too, Billy,” Steve whispered, because it might have been the last thing he told Billy, because it might be his last chance _. _

_ That _ was enough to bring him back to the forefront for a moment, and, certainly enough, as Max held onto her brother’s hand for dear life, he  _ screamed _ , and whatever had been the Mind Flayer’s remains into Billy’s body just rose into the air as a goo.

“We did it!” Will rose his hands to celebrate the victory. 

The goo on the floor, though, rose up and up and  _ up _ \- right until Billy reached out for Steve in that mess. 

The glow that came from that touch blinded them all for a moment -- when he could see again, Steve saw the goo harden into something solid, and then explode into a powder, or dust, over them all. 

Lucas, ever the quick thinker, ran to the fire alarm and pressed on it, turning the sprinklers from the ceiling on. They watched as the dust slowly, but surely, made its way down the sauna’s drain, to never come back. 

And Steve? 

Steve pulled Billy over to himself, and held on to dear life. Because Billy was  _ alive _ . And everything was going to be OK.

________________________________________________________________________________

A few months passed. Neil Hargrove was caught stealing from the company he worked for, and got arrested - ten to fifteen, they said. Steve was  _ sure _ he smelled his Grandma’s finger on it, but asking was futile. She would just deny it all the way to hell. 

That meant, though, that Susan wasn’t able to support both Max and Billy by herself, even with the boy’s help - which was why they moved back to California, where her family was. 

Steve missed him to death, but he was happy. Happy, because Billy was  _ free _ and happy. What else could he want for?

“There’s something for you.” His mother snapped him from his musings, handing him two envelopes. 

Steve hurriedly opened the first. 

_ “Hey, pretty boy, _

_ How are you doing? I hope you’re OK.  _

_ Cali is good. I missed the sun, the sand, the ocean. But, to be honest, this whole things feels incomplete. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but, it’s just… without you here with me, I feel like half a man walking around. It’s like, every day, I can’t enjoy the warmth of the sun, I can’t feel the softness of the sand, I can’t roll with any waves. Your absence left quite a hole in me, and I can’t seem to be able to get my groove back… _

_ … which is why I have a surprise for you.  _

_ Neither Susan nor Max were too happy to leave Hawkins. So, I talked to some people (aka, badgered Chief Hopper until he caved), and… he got her a job back there. Both her and Max are moving back in October. She wants to surprise Lucas, though, so keep it low! _

_ But this is not the surprise I have for you.  _

_ The second page of this letter is actually an acceptance letter. I got full scholarship to the Indiana University in Kokomo.” _

Steve stopped reading. That was only like, an hour away from Hawkins. 

His heart started pounding. 

_ “I hope that’s okay - that I’m coming back. That I wanna meet you, and be with you, still. I know the spell you did was real, and I know it may have changed things, but… rest assured, I’m okay with that. And I’m also okay with anything else that may come from it.  _

_ Because, it’s like I said, Steve -- I wished for you, too. _

_ Love,  _

_ Billy.”  _

Steve took a deep breath, hands shaking. 

His mother was looking at him with a small smile; he just noticed. He tried to play his nerves down, but it never worked on her. “What?”

“Open the second one, sweetie.” She asked him. 

“ _ Dear Mr. Harrington, we are happy to inform you that you have been accepted to the Indiana University Kokomo-”  _

All the papers fell from his hands. He made a noise, but wasn’t sure how to classify it. 

“Did you do this?” He asked his mom, pretending to be angry, but he wasn’t angry,  _ fuck _ no. He was ecstatic, electric,  _ bursting _ . 

Billy was coming back. Billy wanted him. 

_ Billy was going to the same college as him _ . 

Fuck. 

But what if it didn’t work? What if they fought? What if-?

“Dear,  _ breathe _ ,” She instructed, sitting beside Steve. He automatically did it, taking a big breath. “You know, honey, you can’t travel to heal a broken heart. And we may never know what, exactly, lifted the curse from that boy, even though I’d like to think it was us.” She smiled, placing her hand reassuringly over his forearm. “But there are some things I know for certain,” Her smile told him he already knew what she was going to say. 

“Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder,” He started, rolling his eyes. “Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Plant lavender for good luck.” 

She cupped his face with her hand softly, smile brighter than the moon. “And fall in love whenever you can.” 

Steve eyed the papers on the floor, feeling calmer. Excited.  _ Hopeful _ . 

He took another deep breath. 

“Well,” He said once he felt stable enough to speak again. “Kokomo, Indiana;” Steve bit his lower lip. “I guess here I go.” 

_________________________________________________________________________________

  
  
  



End file.
